The department will take over the 1,000-rai area, located in a section of the Ta Phraya National Park bordering Pang Seeda National Park, which was under the care of the Border Patrol police.

The families will be compensated for trees they planted and moved to a 3,000-rai area in a nearby forest reserve where another 90 families are living. The new area has access to road networks and schools, Damrong said. He said up to 300 forest rangers will be sent to patrol Lampang and five other northeastern provinces where illegal logging has been reported, as unauthorised loggers usually operate during the wet season.

Illegally-felled trees are used to build wooden houses to avoid detection by police and forestry officials before being sold to financiers, who later have the houses dissembled to sell the logs.